Laguna Pueblo

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Pueblo of Laguna Symbol

Laguna Man and Woman in Traditional Dress

Laguna Mission, 1934. Photo: Historic American Buildings Survey

Door to Baptistry, Laguna Mission, 1934

An Indian Pueblo Laguna New Mexico by Thomas Moran

Laguna Pueblo or Pueblo of Laguna (Western Keres: Kawaik) is a Native American tribe of the Pueblo people in west-central New Mexico, USA. The name, Laguna, is Spanish (meaning "lagoon") and derives from the lake located on their reservation. The real Keresan name of the tribe is "Kawaik." The population of the tribe exceeds 7,000 (enrollment), making it the largest Keresan speaking tribe. Mission San José de Laguna was erected by the Spanish at the old pueblo (now Old Laguna), finished around July 4, 1699.

The Laguna people value intellectual activity and education, so a scholarship program has led to many well educated Lagunas. Uranium mining on Laguna land has contributed to this scholarship program as well as to skilled labor learning among Laguna members. While many Native Americans love basketball, Lagunas and other Pueblos enjoy baseball. Like many Pueblos, the Laguna people are skilled in pottery.

Laguna Construction Co., a construction company owned by Laguna Pueblo, is one of the largest U.S. contractors in Iraq, with reconstruction contracts worth more than $300 million since 2004. In addition to its headquarters at the pueblo, Laguna Construction maintains offices in Albuquerque, San Antonio, Texas, Houston, Baghdad and Amman, Jordan. In 2007, Laguna Construction employed 75 people, most of whom belong to the pueblo ^[1].

The Acoma Pueblo and Laguna Pueblo have many ties, including location, language and a shared high school.

The Pueblo of Laguna has a well established Tribal Law system. The Pueblo of Laguna has participated as a "Weed and Seed" tribe^{[citation needed]}. This Department of Justice program studied the enforcement of law and effectiveness of social programs on Native American lands.

Their reservation lies in parts of four counties: In descending order of included land area they are Cibola, Sandoval, Bernalillo and Valencia Counties. It includes the six villages of Encinal, Laguna, Mesita, Paguate, Paraje and Seama, and had a total population of 3,815 persons as of the 2000 census. The reservation is 45 miles (75 km) west of the city of Albuquerque. The total land area is 2,013.008 km² (777.227 sq mi).

The Irish surname Riley was adopted by many members of the Laguna tribe in the 1800s, for legal use in Anglo culture, while retaining their Laguna names in tribal use.

1 Communities
2 Education
3 Language
4 Famous Laguna Pueblo Members
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Communities

[edit] Education

Primary and middle-school education is provided by the Laguna Department of Education, which also operates Early Childhood program and adult education programs. The high school is shared with nearby Acoma Pueblo.